CURRENT RISKS IN THE MICROFINANCE INDUSTRY IN NEPAL. Prakash Raj Sharma/Basanta Lamsal Nepal Microfinance Bankers Association

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1 CURRENT RISKS IN THE MICROFINANCE INDUSTRY IN NEPAL Prakash Raj Sharma/Basanta Lamsal Nepal Microfinance Bankers Association

2 Microfinance in Nepal Emerged as a poverty reduction tool from 1970s with the implementation of Small Farmer Development Program (SFDP) 1990s witnessed introduction of Grameen Bank Financial System (GBFS) in Nepal with Nepal Rastra Bank s (Central Bank of Nepal) initiation Private sector also implemented GBFS through Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) which were transferred in to Regulated Microfinance Financial Institutions (MFFIs) later

3 Microfinance in Nepal Since last few years Commercial Banks, Development Banks are down scaling their business in microfinance through different means Emergence of wholesale funding institutions for MFFIs has also come in to enforcement Many Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) and Financial Non-Governmental Organizations (FINGOs) are also providing microfinance services in Nepal..Though diverse suppliers MFFIs are predominant players in microfinance sector in Nepal

4 Microfinance in Nepal Modern Microfinance movement that started from 1993 in Nepal has completed a glorious 25 years of Operation. Congratulations!!!

5 Industry Overview (Mid December 2017) Number of licensed MFFIs: 58 (65 as of today) National level: 26 (4 wholesale) Regional/district level: 32 Total equity invested: NPR 8,652.6 m (USD 83.2 m) Reserve and surplus: NPR 7,651.8 m (USD 73.6 m) Number of Branches: 2,121 Total Staff: 10,059 Total clients: 2.52 m Total MFFI loans: NPR 117,225.5 m (USD 1,127.2 m) Total Savings deposits: NPR 39,575.3 m (USD m) Total Borrowings: NPR 70,974.9 m (USD m)

6 Growth and Trends Growth and Trends..

7 Growth of MFFIs Number of MFIs Growth % % 65 23% 30% 25% % % % 20% 15% 10% 5% 0 069/70 070/71 071/72 072/73 073/ Falgun 0%

8 Amount in Billion NPR Growth of Loans, Savings and Borrowings Savings Borrowings Loans /70 070/71 071/72 072/73 073/ Mangsir

9 Sources of Funds (Amount in billion NPR) Mangsir 2074 Mangsir % % % % % % % % Capital Fund Saving Deposits Borrowings

10 Uses of Funds (Amount in billion NPR) 3.1 2% 1.4 1% % Mangsir % % 1.1 1% 2.6 2% % Mangsir % % Loans Liquid Funds Other Assets Investments Fixed Assets

11 Funding Liabilities to Total Loans Mangsir 2074 Mangsir % 60.6% 30.9% 64.6% Borrowings Borrowings Savings/deposits

12 Problems and Issues Financial Resources a major constraint for expansion and growth

13 Regulatory Provisions on MFFIs MFFIs can mobilize financial resources (Savings + Borrowings + Debentures) 30 times of their core capital (NRB directives 16.1) Retail MFFIs that has qualified certain condition can accept public deposits with prior approval from NRB (NRB directives 16.5) only 2 MFFIs have received approval and it is limited to few branches Class A, class B and class C banks and financial institution have to lend minimum 5, 4.5 and 4 percent respectively of their loan and advances portfolio to deprived sector in the form of retail or wholesale loans (NRB unified directives 17/074)

14 Growth of Loans, Borrowings and Savings in Recent Months Loans Borrowings 60 Savings Ashoj'74 Kartik'74 Mangsir'74

15 Fund Availability Situation All Banks and Financial Institutions have complied with NRB directives. As of Mangsir 2074 following is the deprived sector to total loans of banks and financial institutions Class A: 5.97% Class B: 8.55% Class C: 4.63% Fully saturated No room for additional funding from banks and FIs Clients deposit is not sufficient (only funds around 34% of loan on average)

16 Problems and Issues.. Interest on borrowings and Interest from loans impact on sustainability of the operations

17 Existing Provision for Interest Rate Commercial banks can not charge interest rate less than their base rate (Different interpretations by CBs and NRB) MFFIs can not charge interest rate more than 18% The spread rate of MFFIs after adding maximum 4% of administrative cost on cost of fund should not exceed 7%. However the maximum rate of interest should not exceed 18% in any case (Total spread given to MFI is up to 11% but practical margin at present is 6-7%)

18 Existing Scenario of Interest Rate The borrowing interest rate has gone as high as 14.5% The average portfolio yield of MFFIs is around17% MFFIs can not survive in the existing interest rate scenario

19 Problem and Issues Multiple financing detrimental to the industry

20 Probable Causes of Multiple Financing (Over Indebtedness) Over presence of MFFIs in one area/branch expansion policy Ineffective credit information system No proper loan utilization check by MFFIs Improper client appraisal Unrealistic target set by Head office Loan amount not sufficient as per credit need of a client Duplication and no coordination between different categories Microfinance providers (class A, B and C BFIs; FINGOs, SACCOS etc) Multiple financing may lead to over indebtedness which may result adverse effect on capacity to repay of the clients

21 Other Operational Problems and Issues Unhealthy competition Mission drift Decreasing trend of portfolio quality Violation microfinance norms and client protection principles Lack of qualified and professional human resources Poor Governance and poor internal control system Over commercialization and tendency to seek profit immediately Aggressive expansion and Growth Improper Management Information System No market research.no innovation supply driven products and services

22 Policy Recommendations Issuance of new microfinance policy Policy address to mitigate financial resources constraint Increase in deprived sector lending requirement from BFIs Establishment of separate fund by the government Access to international funding by wholesale MFFIs Allowance of public deposit mobilization to MFFIs

23 Policy Recommendations Review of the existing interest rate policy by the NRB BFIs to lend deprived sector loan at their average cost of fund plus max 2 percent premium (if interest cap is there) No Interest rate cap if base rate plus premium is applicable on MFI s borrowings Licensing of new MFFIs needs to be stopped Branch opening/approval policy needs to be reviewed and organized differently Participation in credit information system from all MFFIs to avoid multiple financing Same regulations as MFFIs to other microfinance suppliers

24 Recommendations to NMBA Formulation of code of conducts and strictly implement those code of conducts

25 THANK YOU!!!